Sewing machine feed mechanisms



Jan. 10, 1956 c. R. HOSLEY 2,730,057

SEWING MACHINE FEED MECHANISMS Filed Nov. 15, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I In van for" Carl ion 1?. fz bsdey 1 d AT A w m u Jan. 10, 1956 c. R. HOSLEY 2,730,057

SEWING MACHINE FEED MECHANISMS Filed Nov. 15, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 guideway in which it moves becon e worn and permit;

2,730,05? Patented Jan. 10, 1956 "ice common mounting, studfor both the. needle and awl is substituted for the feed slide mechanism in the prior 0, 57 S NG. MACHINE EED MEQHANISMS 5 Carlton R. Hosley, Beverly, Mass, assignqr to United,

Shoe Machinery Corporation, Flemingtou, N. J;, a c0rporation of New Jersey he; eht hv h h el tes t u e ho k. e e lockstitch sewing: machines and, primarily; to improve: h n d; me hanisms e hee h e t t h ha the-t chines. As hereinatter described, the invention is dis elesed he e h d edih eh eele t tehihs hthe h lar to that identified in United States Letters- Patent No. 473,870, r n A l :8 2 E eheh an Mey r- In the machine of the prior patent; the work is-fecl by a work penetrating awl mounted for, oscillationon a sl d h e n he direction o w k fe dy sui b e e t actuated mechanisms. The awl is, arranged tq penetrate, the; work a stitch length advance of the needle, and is shifted into line with theneedlez path before retracting, from the work. Unless the. awl moves with precision; e n h he e e a h he n ed e te ms w r foration of its own leaving the awl holet unfilledg with thread. As, a result the completed scarnis unsightly and unnecessarily weakened. lithe, awl moves exactly into line with. the n e le h he etlle wtl n eeeh ht h the P I fl Q 9Im b he W he e heiee difiieshies are avoided,

In, h a e t ma hin he-aw $.m9 1. d;! ,,3 study separated em t e he i one hwhiehi the he ietheuhted, he aW1 d; in eeu edt e a, ee fin Af e ns s e ng ng utfeees he S ide hhdi h;

e eehe e to en. extent hee he e l, i he he we fails to ome into xe he i sh heihee le Pathh s d the ty s. avated h e. sewing h eh h a hee el q irin eav h ees. l hetepp jett e he. e h t ih t t P netra n ,e tekean f ts ea ee mov m n s rev ntion. ef this tlif lt ee he ercornplished simply by increasing the, sizeot the bearing l If n e ar s o the ases e he-wei tof he p t m t he k to e minim m her e mme e1. sewin p ed ar t n t he a e ab u he sew: ns Pe n h et ekept eere bulky preieet e s e eyel nter er ng t he rop pre en s ieh e the hee the machine.

Numerous expedients have been devised for reduelng or correcting misalinement of the awl with the needle path in the prior machine," such as the insegtion of accurately graded gibs between the guideway andthe feed slide for crowding the slide laterally in the guideway ort-he elimination of the feed r slideand guideway" entirely, as in United States Letters Patent-No. 2,328,011 granted August 31, 1943, on application of; OttoR. Haas andithe us of a e me ouh hafo t e n e le n w! n s n e ppo in s ud-h hen; he e sehese fwmwea taken p by in e t s hs hetw eh hef ett sl e t1. s s id y he Pos t n f the de ma he shifte fi e t y o i p ir. th e he eht f. eewl w h he. needle path ermhhen l -h M eehhement at he ew ith he eedle Path ire hereesed stil a thet f tyihtehihs p t e h e t h s h h h eesety ie e tei h ehthe' wearing surfaces by milling or grinding these surfaces, In the machine of the Haas patent a complicated and expensive feed mechanism for actuating theawl along a machine. The Haas feed mechanism also requires. the use o f a new cam aswell: asnew levers and links to transmit motionto the awl segment, the mechanism prior to that of the Haas1 patent acting directly on the feed slide, while in; theHaas; machine a lever in the feed incchanismrequires the use of a cam having theishape of its; grooye. reyersed,

.An object of the, present invention is to. improve a shoe outsole sewing machine provided with a feed slide similar to that of the patent to French and Meyer, in a manner, which will enable looseness. from wear in the bearing; surfaces of the slide and inits guideway to be taken up conveniently: and elfiectively without throwing the, awl in-itstullyted position out of. alinement with the ee lepeth,

Another object of the invention is to provide in 'a shoe outsole, sewing machine of the French and Meyer type, a feed meehanisrn of unusual durability, ease of adjustment, assemblyand disassembly andetfectiveness in operation, requiring relatively few changes in construction which are capable of being made without the exercise of unusual mechanical skill or complicated machine work To this end and asafeature, of the invention, there is provided. a shoe outsole sewing machine having a main frame carrying, stitch forming and work feeding devices, including a,curved;hool( needle, and a curved work penetratingawl, an supporting segment formed with a grooved hub, a single needle and awl supporting,

studfixed at one end in the rnachine frame and arranged to passloosely through. the. hub of the awl segment, a gtndeway of a right angular cross section in the frame and a feed slide fitting the guideway for imparting move:

hem. ie he Wl. uPR H; F t 1 b eans e e meeting yoke hetweenthe slide andthe segment, the yoke ha inal t isht 1W5 x end r lle o ine of the su faces of the. slide and which enter the groove in the segment hub. With this, construction, looseness between: he s de d. uit ewe el n he w tihs htfeees e e end. a r ht an es e he e et n he e ak n up by crowding the slide, in, the, guideway parallel to tine direction in which the yolce. arms extend, without heh hsithe relative fi et ye t tiehr tehem t h P eae the oke er heih th t v e e w se m uh, e Pe eeles h he, e he Po t eingept t h dithehsieh o ey d nte r nsw h a ho eih eewhn the nte e et t rn f th ee il ee es he WQflAlhT-i de, n the hi w y ehs e w su tfaces which extend parallel; to, the yoke. arms may be talten up, also without disturbing a close fitting relatiqnship betweenthe yolge and the groove of the hub segment by providing a slot and clamp screw joint betweenthe yolge and slide, the slot extendingat right angles t to the yoke arms. Thus, two-wear adjustments may be made independently of each other by crowding the feed slide laterally in its guideway in two directions at right angles to each other without requiring the dimensions of the yoke or the hub to be increased to such an errtent as to interfere with the presentation of a shoe to the stitch forming devices in the machine and without disturbing the alinement of the awl with the needle path. 7 l The manner of adjustment also is simplified and improved with the useof clearly understood mechanical principles, thus avoiding the necessity of malging a 0 er 9f i eh ti e-e h hm hseh ses, ef re, hel

result f' he d si s pree e e th e re h det a e e t el eiz e heh l" e. e hp ele d ef e stud in the preferred form of this feature, a readily removable brace engages the free end of the stud and is secured to at least two fixed parts of the machine separated from each other sufficient distances to insure essential rigidity.

These and other features of the invention relating to certain constructions, combinations and arrangements of parts, as hereinafter described and claimed, will be apparent from the following detailed specification taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a portion of the sewing head in a curved hook needle machine embodying the several features of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a right side elevation of the portion of th machine shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a perspective exploded view, looking from the right front, with parts broken away, of the work feeding mechanism in the machine; and

Fig. 4 is a similar perspective view showing an alternative form of stud brace employed in the machine, certain parts having been omitted.

The illustrated machine has a curved hook needle and a curved awl and is intended for use in sewing relatively thick hard outsoles to shoes, in which a projecting edge of the sole and other parts are formed with continually changing curvatures. To enable turning a shoe freely while sewing the curved edges of the shoe parts the devices engaging them are made as narrow as possible along the line of the seam consistent with effective sewing operations. Also, wide clearance spaces at either side of the sewing point are required.

During sewing operations the projecting parts are first penetrated by the awl and then are moved by the awl a stitch length to bring the'awl perforation into the path of the needle, the needle entering the awl perforation to receive a loop of thread which is drawn through the work and presented to a shuttle carrying a supply of locking thread.

As the shoe is fed the projecting parts are pressed so strongly against the engaging surfaces in the machine that heavy forces of reaction frequently are applied to the needle and awl tending to deflect them and displace the shoe from proper sewing position. To offset'the forces tending to deflect the needle and awl, their mountings are constructed as heavily as possible within the limits of the available space.

Referring to the drawings, the machine has a main frame 2 in which there is journaled a main sewing shaft 4 carrying cams 6, 8 and 10 for operating the stitch forming, work supporting and feeding devices. The stitch forming devices include the curved hook needle, indicated at 12, fixed in a segment 14 mounted for oscillation about a stud 16. The stud is secured at its left end in a projecting portion of the machine frame and passes loosely through the needle segment. To oscillate the needle toward and from the work, teeth on the needle segment are engaged by corresponding teeth on a cam actuated lever 18. The needle segment is prevented from movement lengthwise along the stud by a collar which retains the needle segment in contact with a needle guide 22 supported loosely thereon and, in turn, engaged with the portion of the frame 2, in which the stud 16 is secured.

The awl is indicated at 24 and is fixed in a segment 26 also mounted for oscillation on the stud 16 which forms a common mounting for both the needle and awl, as in the machine of the patent to Haas. For oscillating the awl toward and from the work, teeth on the awl segment engage those on a cam actuated lever 28 which are of sufficient length to enable the awl to have imparted to it a work feeding movement. The hub of the awl segment also is similar to that of the Haas machine and has a peripheral groove 30 (Fig. 3) to receive an operative connection, to be described more fully hereinafter by which the awl may be moved along the com- 4 7 mon stud 16 into and out of alinernent with the path of the needle.

To clamp the projecting shoe parts at the point of operation of the stitch forming devices, the parts are engaged by a work support 31 secured to the machine frame and by a presser foot 32 secured to a lever 34 fulcrumed on a pin 36 fixed in the machine frame. Cooperating with the needle in forming stitches are a loop spreader 37 and a shuttle 38. The loop spreader is secured to a cam actuated lever 40 fulcrumed on a stud 42 fixed in the machine frame. As thus far described, the illustrated machine is generally of the same construction and mode of operation as that disclosed in the French and Meyer patent or in the Haas patent.

The work feeding movement is imparted to the awl in the French and Meyer patent by mounting the awl on a stud separate from that which supports the needle and moving the awl and its stud bodily toward and from the needle. For this purpose the awl stud is secured directly in an upstanding arm of a feed slide mounted in a guide way on the machine frame several inches below the sewing point. The feed slide guideway of the French and Meyer patent is of adequate proportions to resist the forces of reaction applied to the awl in feeding work and enables the awl while engaging the work to be moved with precision into line with the path of the needle so that the needle as it moves toward the work enters exactly into the perforation in the work formed by the awl. After long use of the French and Meyer machine, the wearing surfaces of the feed slide and its guideway becomes so abraded that the awl no longer is brought uniformly into line with the needle path at the end of its work feeding movement. To overcome this difficulty it is customary to provide some means of taking up the looseness resulting from wear in the guideway. Usually an adjusting means for the feed slide is provided and arranged to crowd the slide to one side in the guideway in either of two directions at right angles to the wearing surfaces, so that the slide is guided uniformly in a straight line movement. In crowding the feed slide against its guideway, however, the awl stud is displaced from alinement with the needle path and the awl no longer can be brought into exact line with it.

In the illustrated machine the feed slide is indicated at 44 and the guideway, indicated at 46, on the frame 2 is parallel to the common needle and awl stud. The wearing surfaces of the slide and its guideway are disposed in right angular relation to each other and to prevent displacement of the slide the guideway has screwed to it a pair of parallel retainer plates 47.

The means for taking up the looseness from wear between the surfaces of the slide and guideway consist of a number of gibs 48, 50 and 52, the gib 48 acting on one side surface of the slide 44 to crowd it rearwardly in the guideway and the gibs 50 and 52 acting on upper surfaces of the slide to crowd it downwardly against the lower horizontal surface of the guideway. For convenience of adjustment the plates 47 and the guideway have threaded into them abutment screws 54 engaging the gibs at their inner ends.

If the awl is supported on a separate stud secured to an upwardly extending arm of the slide, as in the French and Meyer machine, then by changing the position of the gibs 48, 50 and 52 the axis of the awl stud will be displaced from proper alinement with the needle stud, so that the awl cannot move into line with the path of the needle. If an attempt is made to employ a common needle and awl supporting stud, as in the Haas machine, and to actuate the awl segment by an nonadjustable connection with the feed slide, the stud and awl segment will be subject to excessive stresses after looseness from wear has occurred between the slide and its guideway. Furthermore, with the use of a commonstud, after looseness has occurred there is no method of preventing application of excessive binda t e's o e w egment and t d hnrta a rebuildingoperation,

To enable proper alinernent of the awl" with the needle path to be made convenientlyand'effectivelyin the ma:

chine of the present invention, regardless. of the extent to which wearjadjustments are requiredflto take up looseness between the surfaces of. the feed slidein its guide way,.an upwardly extending arm. of the slide has secured to it a-forked, yoke 56 which connectsitwith the awl segment.

relation with the inner surface of the groove. in the awl,

segment hub so that there is little if any Clearance between them and the hub. Byan'anging the arms of the yoke in this manner displacement of the slide in its guideway while.

tightening the. abutment screws 54 in the plates 47 in a direction to crowd the slide downwardly, is compensated for without adjustmentsby relative movement in a vertical.

direction between the yoke andjthe hub of the awl segment, this movement being taken up by the arms slidingin the groove of the awl hub so that no st-ressisapplied to the awl segment or-stud. To takeup the horizontal looseness of the slide44in the guideway 42 the abutment screws 54 on the front sideof the guideway aretightenem'crowding.

the slide to the rear. To prevent one of the armsonthe yoke-.56 frombeingpressed forcibly against the innersurface of the: groove. 30, in thevht bl of; the awl segment a simple horizontal. adjustment, is prqvided betweentheyoke and the slide. n a

To adjust the yoke 56 horizontally on the feed slide 44 the yoke and slide are .conneeted by a slot and clamp screw joint. which supports the. yoke has fqrmedpin it an elongated horizontal slot 62. It will be apparent that this slot extends parallel with the upperand lower wearing surfaces of the slide and-guideway and at right angles to the surface of'the slide which is 'parallel to the innersurfaces of the arms 60. The slot has passingthrough it aclamp screw. threaded into the lower end of the yoke and arranged to secure the yoke adjustably to the slide. To prevent rotation of the yoke about the clamp screw 64 the flat lower end of the yoke engages a guide ledge 66 extending horizontally in exactly parallel relation to the upper and lower surfaces of the slide and guideway. If the screw 64 is loosened before the horizontal looseness is taken up between the slide and guideway, the yoke is free to adjust its position automatically on the slide as the looseness between the slide and guideway is taken up. Thereafter the screw 64 may be retightened and the parts reclamped. Thus, it is possible to take up the looseness of the slide in its guideway in two directions without causing excessive stress or friction to be impressed on the parts and the freedom from looseness will be restored to the feeding mechanism to bring it into its originally manufactured effectiveness.

To insure that the free right end of the common mounting stud 16 for the needle and awl will not be displaced by reactions of awl penetration and feeding movement of the work, a rigid three-armed brace 68 engages that end of the stud and is made fast to separated, fixed points on the machine. To support the brace 68 the presser foot pin 36 and the thread lifter stud 42 have extensions to the right beyond the machine frame which are engaged by split clamp portions of the brace. Between its clamp portions the brace has an arm formed with a perforation fitting snugly about the stud 16.

Another form of brace is indicated at 70 in Fig. 4.

The brace 70 has screws 72 at its lower end passing its upper end the brace 70 is provided with a perforation The upwardly extending arm on the slide n h ight n 1 tud 1.6- Ihes ttansemeut. with" eitherfqrm ofbrace, produces the same teif eptive,

results andafiiord's a construction which is easily assembled or dismantled.

With the construction of the present. invention it is possible to keep the parts surrounding the sewing. point of the machine within minimum dimensions, suitable clearancespacesbeing provided at either end of the needle and awl studj while affording adequate strength of the parts to resist the forces of action and reaction encountered during sewing operation maintained at least equal to or increased over the constructions of the prior patents. Thus, the arms of the forked yoke 56 are close together and the forked portion embraces the hub of the.

awl segment with a steadying action on the inner surface of the groove 30without requiring any enlargement of the hub for greater strength; It is possible to take up. the vertical loosenessbetween the slide and the guideway without making any other adjustment in the machine. The only adjustment required to compensate for change of position of the slide in the guideway when taking up the looseness in a horizontal direction is accomplished by loosening the clamp screw'64. When the clamp screw is loosened the yoke may be shifted horizontally while maintaining its angular position about the clamp screw.

The natureand scope of the invention having been indicated and a particular embodiment having been described, what is claimed is:

1. A shoe outsole sewing machine having a main frame, stitch. forming and work feeding devices including a curved work penetrating instrument, a segment having a peripherally grooved hub for suppprting said instrument, a stud fixed in the frame of the machine and passing loosely through; the hub of the segment, a guideway of right angular cross'section in the frame of the machine with wearing surfaces extending in parallel relation to the fixed stud, a feed slide fitting the guideway for imparting movementto the instrument supporting segment lengthwise of said stud, and means fortaking up the looseness from wear by crowding the slide in either of two. directions at-right angles to-the Wearing surfaces of the slide and guideway, in combination with a connecting yoke between the slide and the segment, provided with a rectangular arm entering the groove in the segment hub and extending parallel to one of the wearing surfaces on the slide.

2. A shoe outsole sewing machine having a main frame, stitch forming and work feeding devices including a curved work penetrating instrument, a segment having a peripherally grooved hub for supporting said instrument, a stud fixed in the frame of the machine and passing loosely through the hub of the segment, a guideway of right angular cross section in the frame of the machine with wearing surfaces extending in parallel relation to the fixed stud, a feed slide fitting the guideway for imparting movement to the instrument supporting segment lengthwise of said stud, means for taking up the looseness from wear by crowding the slide in either of two directions at right angles to the wearing surfaces of the slide and guideway, in combination. with a connecting yoke between the slide and the segment, provided with a rectangular arm entering the groove in the segment hub and extending parallel to one of the wearing surfaces on the slide, and means for securing the yoke to the slide comprising a slot and clamp screw joint, the slot of which extends at right angles to the wearing surface on the slide which is parallel to the arm to enable adjustment to be made in the position of the yoke on the slide in compensation for a change in. position of the slide caused by taking up the looseness of the slide in the guideway.

3. A shoe outsole sewing machine having a main frame, stitch forming and work feeding devices including a curved work penetrating instrument, a segment having a peripherally grooved hub for supporting said instruing loosely through the hub of the segment, a guideway of right angular cross section in the frame of the machine with wearing surfaces extending in parallel relation to the fixed stud, a feed slide fitting the guideway for imparting movement to the instrument supporting segment lengthwise of said stud, means for taking up the looseness from Wear by crowding the slide in either of two directions at right angles to the wearing surfaces of the slide and guideway, in combination with a connecting yoke between the slide and the segment, provided with a rectangular arm entering the groove in the segment hub and extending parallel to one of the wearing surfaces on the slide, means for securing the yoke to the slide comprising a slot and clamp screw joint, the slot of which extends at right angles to the wearing surface on the slide which is parallel to the arm to enable adjustment to be madein the position of the yoke on the slide in compensation for a change in position of the slide caused by taking up the looseness of the slide in the guideway, and a guide ledge on the slide engageable with the yoke and extending parallel to the 'slot to pre vent rotation of the yoke about the clamp bolt.

4. A shoe outsole sewing machine having a main frame, stitch forming and work feeding devices comprising a'curved hook needle and a curvedawl, needle and awl supporting segments, a common stud passing through the segments and having one end fixed in the frame of the machine, the awl supporting segment having a peripherally grooved hub, a guideway in the frame formed with wearing surfaces extending in a direction parallel to the axis of the stud, a feed slide mounted in the guideway, and means for taking up the looseness between the wearing surfaces of the guideway and feed slide, in combination with a groove entering yoke on the slide'embracing the hub of the segment and a removable brace secured to the other end of the stud and to two separated, fixed portions of the machine.

5. A shoe outsole sewing machine having. a main frame, stitch forming and work feeding devices comprising a curved hook needle and a curved awl, needle and awl supporting segments, the awl supporting segment having a peripherally grooved hub, a common stud passing through theneedle and awl segments and having one of its ends fixed in the frame, a work support on the frame, a presser foot acting with the work support to clamp the work at the point of operation of the stitch forming devices, a fulcrum pin in the frame about which the presser foot moves toward and from the work support, a thread lifter, a fulcrum stud in the frame about which the thread lifter moves and a removable brace engaging the common needle and awl:

stud, the presser foot pin and the thread lifter stud.

6. 'A shoe outsole sewing machine having a main frame, stitch forming and work feeding devices including a curved work penetrating instrument, a segment having a peripherally grooved hub for supporting said instrument, a stud having at one end fixed in thefrarne of the machine and passing loosely through the hub of the segment, a guideway of right angular cross section in the frame of the machine with wearing surfaces ex tending in parallel relation to the fixed stud; a feed References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 432,011 Bertrand July 15, 1890 473,870 French et a1. Apr. 26, 1892 774,654 Denne Nov. 8, 1904 2,551,599 Haas May 8, 1951 

